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Nowhere in her collective mind was the specific fact that the Crusades had
indeed more or less liberated
Jerusalem, and for quite some time, but had lost it, again and forever, in
1291. After the repeated failures of the Crusades of the fourteenth century,
and in the schism in the papacy and Church that had followed, this fact tended
to be glossed over to the low and the ignorant.
It was 1605 now, and Jerusalem was, as it had been for over three centuries,
firmly in the hands of the
Ottoman Empire.
Waking up as Ismet had shattered forever any hold Sister Nobody might have had
on the new personality. For the rest, it was simply another shock to get used
to in the cruel tricks time played on those who would play with it.
She had been born and raised in Egypt, had come from a good family and been
married to an important
Ottoman official when she was fourteen. She was his second wife, and thus had
no voice in anything.
Two years after her marriage they moved to Jerusalem, where her husband became
chief of tax administration. He was an important man, and already had two
daughters by his first wife, but, of course, he wanted a son most of all. He
had hoped that Ismet would provide that son, or many sons, for that was her
purpose in life, but in the two years in Egypt and one more in Jerusalem she
had borne him nothing. Finally, just after her seventeenth birthday, she had
become pregnant, but joy turned to horror when the child, which was indeed a
boy, was stillborn.
He blamed her for that, and beat her, but finally his rage cooled. Still, he
could not bear to have her around anymore, and so divorced her. She was, in
effect, thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem with nothing, including any
skills or experience outside her sheltered existence.
Such women were easy prey for those who had need of them, such as Mufasta the
Procurer, whose street people told him of this and who found her, weeping and
alone, and had kindly taken her in. Helpless, alone, feeling aban-doned and
dishonored, she was perfect for what he had in mind. She proved to be easy to
domesticate, and he soon moved her to his port operation in Tyre, where
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sailors had money and great lust.
After the first hundred men, she no longer thought of being anything but a
woman of pleasure.
Now, however, she was back with him in Jerusalem, having had some difficulties
with an official of the empire in Tyre over the amount of certain bribes to be
paid for doing business. Business was, in fact, not nearly as good there, but
he had opium to keep his "harem" girls happy, and as his political contacts
there were far more friendly and far less greedy, it balanced out.
She had broken easily, and it did not trouble her. She called him "Master" and
was grateful to be the property of one who provided for her needs. She was
quite good-looking, and her barrenness had proven to her that this was indeed
the mission in life Allah had selected for her. Mufasta was not a harsh
master, for he was skilled and did not have to be.
She danced near naked for unruly, drunken crowds in the back rooms of places
where wine flowed freely and religious laws were not highly regarded, and she
laid more than twenty of them in nine days, and it was acceptable to those who
inhabited that body with her because it felt good and was new.
The decision, however, had to be made, for they had to decide whether to risk
all on Sister Nobody's frail and broken body or to take Ismet's far preferable
one but with Ismet as the primary.
Ultimately, they decided that there was a great possibil-ity that Ismet could
not be convinced to go, so they took charge. In the very early morning she had
snuck out of her dingy little room, donned a chador and veil as was neces-sary
to travel unescorted, and made her way several blocks to the square. She had
made certain that she knew the spot, having had to fetch water and other
things at her master's bidding.
The mind was very close to control, terribly frightened and confused, but
she'd done it.
Compared to the last time, the suit was amazingly easy to find and only
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